The Best Insulated Thermoses for Keeping Food and Beverages Fresh

The Elevation is an impressive thermos with strong thermal retention and a good lineup of accessories that give it an edge over competitors. Otterbox has an entire system of lids that work with this bottle, including an easy-flip (but not as water-tight) sipping lid, a robust thermal lid like you might see on traditional thermos, and a cocktail shaker top that performed reliably on a week-long vacation.

The screw-top has a great handle and is easy to open and close. It’s not the easiest to sip out of on the move, but we’ll overlook it thanks to the impressive insulation for hot and cold liquids. The bottle’s hearty construction showed no wear after we banged it around in the car, threw it into packs, and plunked it downs on counters.

The Elevation strikes a rare balance between superb insulation and ease of use that made it a stand-out.

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Appropriately named, this thermos from Stanley is great for tasty lunches at the office or on a camping trip. The insulated lid doubles as a food bowl, and there is a spork attached so you don’t have to bring along additional dishes and silverware.

Reviews Editor, Kevin Cortez, has also stored cold beverages in the thermos and appreciates how well the liquids kept their cool. “I’ve poured plenty a cold brew in this thing, and I’ve seen it hold ice for at least seven hours,” he says.

The thermos is made up of three pieces, so it’s easier to clean and also offers space for storing dry foods without them getting soggy.

“My biggest qualm is that the spork isn’t long enough to reach the bottom of the jar, which forces eaters to pour the contents into a larger bowl or use the lid as a tiny cup,” Kevin says. “But overall, this little guy rules, and it’s super useful on camping trips or long commutes where you’ve just gotta eat in the car. Just don’t expect it to fit in your cup holder.”

The Legendary Classic thermos from Stanley has been a pillar of durability, reliability, and an iconic camping style since 1913, and little has changed today.

The model we tested has that distinct army-green, stainless steel exterior, which feels incredibly sturdy (albeit heavy), and more likely to handle some rough tumbles. The small lid doubles as a cup, and the secondary cap has a twist-and-pour stopper so sharing beverages with others is a breeze.

We like that you can determine the speed of pour depending on how tight you screw on the stopper, and heat retention is impressive. We let hot water sit in the thermos for hours, and there was still plenty of steam released when we unscrewed the cap.

The thermos is on the clunkier side, but the attached carrying handle makes for easier transport, and overall it’s a great option for group outings.

Buying lunch at the office everyday can start to add up, so bringing food from home is an efficient and cost-effective alternative. If you don’t have easy access to a microwave or prefer to eat at your desk, an insulated food jar will keep your meals at the proper temperature until you’re ready to dig in.

All throughout middle and high school, the Stainless King thermos was a lunchtime staple for Amber, our digital content producer. It comes equipped with a full-sized metal spoon, a vacuum-sealed stopper, and a secondary lid that doubles as a bowl.

We love how those extra touches add functionality and versatility, making this thermos an easy addition to your backpack or lunch bag.

The unicorn of travel mugs is one that combines the drinking convenience of a sipping lid with the thermal efficiency of a screw-top. This ultralight Zojirushi model comes pretty damn close to that ideal.

We like that the lid is also leakproof and disassembles easily for deep cleans, though you’ll need a brush to reach beyond the bottle’s narrow opening. As for its insulation chops, the SM-SE36 outperformed the next best travel mug in our hot test by a whopping 14.2 degrees and most other options by 20 degrees or more. It’s still not on par with bottles that have traditional thermos lids, but the tradeoff for a user-friendly lid was worth it to us.

Our coffee and tea poured from the spout quickly, though the flow wasn’t very steady. A minor irritant, but a smoother stream is about the only thing that could make this otherwise excellent mug better.

Yeti’s Rambler is great for morning joe—the HotShot Cap lid is the best for coffee that we tested. While we had to use two hands to open it (one to hold the thermos, and the other to pinch and twist the lid’s interior) we loved how easy it was to drink from.

In addition to the HotShot Cap, the Rambler bottles are compatible with five other lids. Among them, the chug and MagDock caps stand out.

Both provided a narrower drinking top that prevented spills, while not restricting the flow rate too much. The chug cap features a large handle that was comfortable to carry, while the MagDock has a smaller cap that attaches to a magnet on the side of the lid so you don’t lose it.

Another big plus here is that this bottle (and all Rambler drinkware) is dishwasher-safe.

The Stanley Adventure has a classic thermal design, with a cap that screws into rather than over the bottle’s mouth, and a cup cover. This means it’s far from easy to drink from on the fly, like in the car on your way to work. It’s anything but convenient, and there are no alternative lid options.

But with that inconvenience comes Stanley’s hallmark performance: exceptional insulation of both hot and cold beverages. And what really makes this bottle stand out is that you get those stats for a very affordable price.

If you’re looking for something to take soup to work or to enjoy a hot toddy, this bottle is your friend. It has the same rugged (read: heavy) construction that has made Stanley bottles the standard across generations. And while it won’t break anytime soon, if you lose it, a replacement won’t cost that much.